


Good Clean Fun

by purpleeyesandbowties



Series: Addy and the Maitlands [2]
Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, Multi, fluff and feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 10:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19990732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleeyesandbowties/pseuds/purpleeyesandbowties
Summary: A evening in the developing relationship between Adam, Barbara, and Beetlejuice. Feelings are discussed, cuddles are shared, and Beetlejuice takes a goddamn shower for once.





	Good Clean Fun

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the lack of addy in this one, but since he's not born yet, i think that excuses him. this still fits into the addy-verse, though, so that's why it's here and not posted separately.

“Moody” was not a word Barbara would choose to describe herself very often. Maybe it was the pregnancy. Maybe it was the ghost aspect of the baby. Maybe she was just tired of being in the house. No matter what the cause, Barbara was _grumpy._ She was _cranky._ She wanted _love,_ and _affection,_ and _a lot of it._ Adam was a gem, really, and always had been, but there were times when just him wasn’t enough. She sighed and rolled over, disengaging herself from Adam. She was usually the big spoon when they cuddled, but she wanted something solid and comforting at her back tonight. The problem was she also wanted something solid and comforting at her front. And Adam couldn’t be in both places at once.

“Not enough?” he asked with a grimace. Barbara shook her head. She didn’t know how to express this yearning fighting its way out of her chest, this need to be held, comfort on all sides, absolutely consumed by other bodies pressing against her own. She wanted a human weighted blanket, as squishy and pliant as possible.

“You’re doing great, sweetheart,” she assured him. “I just need….more.”

“Hmm. Well, we’ve discussed bringing you-know-who into this,” Adam said. Neither of them wanted to risk his name in case it got his attention. But Barbara almost wished Adam had been a little less careful with his words—maybe if Beetlejuice just showed up, they wouldn’t have to plan and decide. They could just let things happen as they would.

Barbara let out a thoughtful breath and propped herself up on her elbow. “I think it’s time, Adam. He’s been good—really good—lately, and not just around us. Lydia is over the moon about him. He’s a good friend to her. Even Charles and Delia get along with him now, as long as someone else is in the room to keep him under control.”

“And?” Adam prompted, a knowing look on his face. Barbara blew out a raspberry.

“ _And,”_ she conceded. “And as much as I love you, I want someone a bit…softer to hold on to tonight.”

“He is really soft,” Adam said wistfully. “Like a teddy bear. With body odor.”

Barbara wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, we have to do something about that before he’s allowed in this bed.”

Adam laughed quietly. After a moment, he said, “Uh, sweetheart, I’m not against bringing him into this, but—how much do you want him to _be involved?_ He doesn’t strike me as someone with a lot of self-control or tact. We invite him in for a cuddle, and things might…”

“Escalate,” Barbara finished. She shrugged, a tiny blush on her cheeks. “I wouldn’t mind, honestly. If you wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t,” Adam said. He took Barbara’s hand and kissed it. “You’re my wife and I’ll be loyal to you, always. But I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about him like that.”

“You and me both,” Barbara admitted with a giggle. She kissed him. “Thank you for being so amazing, honey. Most guys wouldn’t agree to something like this.”

“Most guys aren’t me,” Adam said. He kissed her forehead. “So, we’re agreed?”

“Yes,” Barbara said decisively.

“You do the honors, then,” he said. The name thing was pretty inconsistent, they’d learned. It seemed to work best when Beetlejuice was listening for his name or otherwise un-distracted. If a living person called him, he had no choice but to show up. When a dead person did it, it depended on whether or not he heard them. Thankfully, tonight they got lucky—he popped into their attic bedroom only a few seconds after Barbara had said the last _Beetlejuice_.

He looked the same as he always did—charmingly wild hair, bright eyes, disgustingly tattered suit. She took comfort in the thought that if things went right tonight she wouldn’t have to look at the suit for very long.

“What’s new, ghost hotties?” Beetlejuice asked. “Got another spider terrorizing you? I could use a snack.”

Adam grinned—Barbara elbowed him, knowing how much her husband was enjoying this. “Nope,” he said cheerfully. “We were hoping you’d be interested in something a little more personal.”

“Like what?” Beetlejuice asked suspiciously.

“Like this,” Adam said. He grabbed Beetlejuice by the tie and yanked him down for a kiss. He let go, leaning back against Barbara’s side and said with satisfaction, “Revenge. For that one time.”

“Uh,” Beetlejuice said, his eyes bugged out comically. He shook himself. “So…was that it, or do you have more revenge planned?”

“Down, boy,” Barbara said. “Adam may have gone a little hard on the sell, but we’re asking you to join us. In bed. For a cuddle.”

With every word, Beetlejuice’s eyes lit up further. He deflated slightly at the clarification of the cuddle, but not as much as Barbara expected from a sex-obsessed demon. He nodded vigorously. “Totally, yeah, I can do that.”

Barbara held up a finger. “But first. You have to shower. _And_ brush your teeth.”

Beetlejuice’s nose wrinkled. “What for?”

“Because this ghost-baby has decided a lot of things make me nauseous. If you want any kind of kisses from me, you’re gonna have to clean up first.”

Beetlejuice groaned theatrically. “Fine! Only for you, Babs.”

“Aw,” Barbara cooed. She reached out her hand and when Beetlejuice placed his in hers, she gave it a squeeze. “We’ll be right here when you’re ready.”

“Sure,” he said uneasily. He vanished for a minute or so. When he came back, he was still just as messy and clearly un-showered. He looked sheepish.

“Can’t figure out the shower?” Adam asked. He swung his legs out of bed and stood up. 

“I’m gonna stay here,” Barbara said with a yawn. Adam hummed his understanding. 

“She’s achy,” he whispered to Beetlejuice.

The two men where halfway down the stairs when she heard Adam laugh, “What do you _mean_ you don’t know how to shower?!”

—

“I mean,” Beetlejuice said testily, “that it’s been a few decades since I’ve stepped into a shower, and it’s not my fault things have changed!”

“How many decades is a few decades?” Adam asked, caught between impressed and grossed out. Beetlejuice counted on his fingers.

“Seven? Maybe eight?”

“Yikes,” Adam said serenely, echoing an expression he’d heard Lydia employ recently. He ushered Beetlejuice into the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind them. One of the upgrades the Deetzes had done that Adam agreed with was the bathroom. The shower had sorely needed it, but now it was admittedly a little fancier than Adam felt comfortable with. Like Beetlejuice, however, showering wasn’t a necessity for him anymore, so he hadn’t bothered in a few days. Well, since he was here….

He started stripping down.

“Whoa!” Beetlejuice yelped. “What’s up, A-dog?”

“I’ll help you shower. I need one too.”

Beetlejuice made a strangled noise. “Okay. Cool, I mean, why not!”

Adam rolled his eyes. Beetlejuice was suave and flirty, yes, but he could only dish it out—when one or both of the Maitlands decided to dish it back, he lost his cool surprisingly quickly. It was cute, Adam realized. His flirting with Barbara had ceased to fluster either of them years ago. Having the flutter and spark of a new attraction was something he didn’t even know he’d missed.

“The only thing that’s gonna happen in here is the two of us getting clean. I promised Barbara I wouldn’t cheat on her unless she was present.”

That made Beetlejuice laugh. He followed Adam’s lead and got undressed as well. Adam did his best to keep his eyes in modest places and the two of them stepped into the (thankfully, large) shower. Adam fiddled with the settings until a comfortably hot spray surrounded both of them.

“So,” he said, popping open a bottle. “This is shampoo. I have a feeling we’ll need a few rounds of it on your hair before we’re done.”

“Probably,” Beetlejuice agreed, watching the muddy brown water pool briefly around their feet before slipping down the drain. “That’s all from me?”

“Now you see why Barb wanted you clean?”

Beetlejuice shrugged noncommittally. He wouldn’t say it, but Adam thought maybe he was a little sad about taking a shower. The guy liked his dirty, messy look. He probably even took pride in it. But he was agreeing to shower, and just because Barbara asked him too. That, more than anything, convinced Adam that Beetlejuice was at least a little serious about them. 

Adam lathered up his hands and started rubbing it into Beetlejuice’s scalp. Beetlejuice flinched away.

“Did I surprise you?” Adam asked. Beetlejuice looked away but took a few shuffling steps closer to him. Adam hummed. Likely, it had been a while since anyone touched Beetlejuice’s hair, and probably not ever in this context. Slowly, Beetlejuice’s shoulders relaxed as the shampoo got worked through his wild hair. Adam took a break to shampoo his own hair, a much quicker and simpler job. 

“I’m gonna use conditioner now, so I don’t rip your hair out when I try to comb it.”

Beetlejuice’s face did something complicated. “ _Comb it?”_

“Don’t worry, I can style it back into your regular rat’s nest. It’ll just be intentional this time,” Adam assured him. Beetlejuice looked skeptical but allowed Adam to put conditioner in his hair. He pulled Beetlejuice out from under the shower spray.

“Let’s leave it to sit for a few minutes. In the meantime, we can wash up.”

Beetlejuice sniffed several types of body wash and bars of soap before choosing one that he deemed the least offensive. Adam let him soap up his own body, partially due to the sheer amount of dirt caught in his body hair and partially due to the fact that things might easily get non-PG if he were to take over that job. He concentrated on washing his own body, which again, went much quicker than Beetlejuice. As Beetlejuice attacked his own chest with a washcloth, Adam went after the demon’s hair, rinsing out round one of the conditioner and starting round two of shampoo. This time, the shampoo worked itself in much quicker and his hands came away clean, so Adam thought he could get away with one more round of conditioner, as long as he went slow with the comb. 

Into the silence that had settled, Beetlejuice said, “So, how often do you, uh, want me to shower? Like, every day?”

Adam thought for a minute. “We—me and Barbara—don’t want to change who you are fundamentally. We know you’re a messy guy, and that’s part of you. But we’ve always been a little more uptight about hygiene in bed, so you might have to shower more frequently.As much as you’re comfortable with. Speaking of being clean, have you been tested lately? God, can dead people even _get_ tested for STDs?”

“Disease works a little different for the dead. It doesn’t stick around as long.”

“That’s not an answer,” Adam observed. He picked up the wide-tooth comb and began to tug it gently through the tips of Beetlejuice’s hair. Beetlejuice sighed loudly and shifted his weight.

“What I’m saying is that I don’t have anything right now. ‘Clean’, if you want to put it that way. Truthfully, it’s been…well, it’s been a while since my last sexcapade.”

Adam tapped the back of his head with the comb. “First, please don’t call it that. Second, why?”

“Just haven’t been interested. Not since meeting the two of you. Before that, actually. I’d been keeping an eye on you while you were still alive. Not in a creepy way—okay, it was kind in a creepy way at the time but I feel bad about it now—but yeah. You two…I was attracted to you. And finding sex elsewhere didn’t have as big of an appeal.”

Adam blinked. “That’s….surprisingly tender of you, Beetlejuice.”

“Don’t write home about it,” Beetlejuice said gruffly. Adam couldn’t help himself—he pressed a kiss to the back of Beetlejuice’s neck, right below his hairline.

“I’m definitely telling Barbara. Maybe not the watching-us part. But the attraction part. And the no-sex part.”

The tips of Beetlejuice’s ears flushed pink, and, amazingly, so did his hair. He shuddered. “How much more showering is left?” he asked, shifting his weight in a much different way than before. Adam laughed but took a step back, creating some much-needed distance between their bodies.

“A bit. I want to get those fingernails in better shape.” 

Beetlejuice’s hair was blessedly clean now, and it felt sleek and tangle-free when Adam ran his fingers through it. He grabbed Beetlejuice’s shoulder and turned him around so they were facing each other and realized right away that it was a mistake. The look in his eyes was more intense and needy than Adam had been expecting. Adam looked down and—oh, god, that was not the right move either. He looked up again, at the ceiling this time. His face felt hot, even hotter than the water they were standing under.

“Hand me the nail brush?” he asked weakly. Beetlejuice did, silently, watching Adam’s every move. Adam brought Beetlejuice’s right hand up between them and started scrubbing at the nails with the brush. He kept his focus on that, only that. Beetlejuice’s hand, larger than his own with sturdy fingers and strength underneath its pudgy covering. Hands that could crush his throat easily, if Beetlejuice wanted to. He didn’t realize how hard he was breathing until Beetlejuice’s other hand covered both of his. 

“Adam,” he said, and pushed until Adam’s back was against the wall of the shower. Adam’s eyes slid closed as Beetlejuice kissed him. Soft and slow, warm and comforting.

“We gotta brush your teeth next,” he said against Beetlejuice’s mouth. Beetlejuice immediately pulled back. 

“Gross, right?” he said sheepishly. Adam kissed him once more and stepped back under the spray. 

“Not a big deal. Let’s finish up here and get back to Barb. She’ll be getting lonely.”

They didn’t talk any more as Adam finished up Beetlejuice’s nails and rinsed them both off. Just as he promised, Adam showed Beetlejuice how to dry and tease his hair into its usual wild arrangement. Around the toothbrush in his mouth, Beetlejuice said, “I feel weird now. Like my skin is thinner.”

“You’re definitely paler. And pinker. You must have had quite a bit of dirt on you.”

Beetlejuice made a face. “My fingernails feel soft. Are they supposed to feel soft?”

“They’re just clean, Beej. They’ll toughen up again soon.” 

It was about then that Adam remembered they hadn’t brought a change of clothes with them. Well, then, they’d have to make do. Adam wrapped a towel around himself and handed one to Beetlejuice. 

“We just have to sneak upstairs without anyone seeing us. We’ll worry about finding you some clothes later.” Beetlejuice frowned and opened his mouth, but just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Who’s in there? It’s been like, half an hour!”

“Sorry, Lydia,” Adam called, wincing. “W—I’m almost done.”

“Well, let me in. I need to grab my hairbrush.”

“Don’t you have one in your room?” Adam asked. Beetlejuice opened his mouth again but Adam shook his head frantically and made a shushing movement with his hands. 

“No,” Lydia’s voice came, annoyed in a very teenager-ish way. “Come on, Dadam, I have to leave for Riley’s in a few minutes and my hair is a mess.”

Adam cracked the door open and peered out. “Can’t you just go…check your room again? Just in case it’s there?”

“Nope,” Lydia said resolutely. “But you’ve got a towel on, so I’m coming in.”

She pushed the door all the way open, despite Adam’s spluttering, and stopped in her tracks. She took in Adam’s panicked expression, Beetlejuice standing behind him wearing a towel and a huge grin, and she burst out laughing. Glee and revulsion in her voice, she said, “Hey, Beetlejuice! What are you doing here?”  
“Lyds, hi! Adam was just teaching me how to have some good clean fun,” Beetlejuice said. He leaned against the counter and waved. Lydia turned to Adam, her eyes wide.

“Looks like it. Dadam, I was going to ask what fun and excitement you had planned for the night but, uh, guess I know now. Also, gross. I never _ever_ need details.”

“Please just get your hairbrush and go,” Adam groaned. Lydia dug around in a drawer and come up with a sparkly purple brush.

“I’m going, I’m going. But you’re insane if you think I’m not gonna tease you for this later. Mercilessly.” She held up a warning hand. “But again: no details.”

She left, cackling louder than Adam thought was warranted. He scowled at Beetlejuice.

“You could at least try not to look so satisfied. Or smug.”

“Oh, honey, I _could._ But I don’t want to.”

He slipped a hand under Adam’s towel and gave his butt a tweak. “Okay, I’m clean now. Barbara needs to kiss me, like, yesterday. To make up for the torture I just endured.”

Adam swatted his hand away without any heat. “You didn’t seem to mind it too much if I remember right.”

Beetlejuice waved a hand. “Five out of ten. One point for making my hair feel a few pounds lighter, four points for the company. Convince Babs to join us and that number may go up.”

“I’m just happy you’re already agreeing to another shower in the future.”

Adam intertwined their hands. Maybe the shower really had done something to him, because his hands felt much softer than usual. They felt gentle, like they were made for holding instead of destroying, as he’d thought before.

—

Barbara was dozing unhappily in her very cold, very empty bed when Adam’s distinctive soft tap came on the attic door. She sat up and said, “Come in! Finally!” 

Adam, waist wrapped in a towel, entered, hand-in-hand with Beetlejuice. Barbara’s jaw dropped. Without a layer of dirt encrusting him, Beetlejuice looked….well, he looked almost angelic. His skin glowed a healthy pink and that crazy hair looked like a halo rather than a disaster. Everything about him looked just a few degrees softer and kinder. His dingy suit was gone, making him seem much more vulnerable—or maybe it was just all the bare skin.

“You clean up nice,” she said, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

Beetlejuice ducked his head and she just managed to contain her second jaw-drop of the evening. Was he actually _bashful?_

She stuck out her arms and wiggled her hands.

“Gimme. I need both of you, right here, right now.”

“Pants?” Adam asked. Barbara shrugged. 

“Whatever.”

Adam crossed to a dresser drawer and pulled out two pairs of boxers, one of which he threw at Beetlejuice. “Pants,” he said decisively. “Unless you want to skip the cuddling entirely.”

Barbara made a face. “Fair point. Cuddles first, second, and maybe only. I’m pretty tired.”

“But we’ll see,” Adam agreed. He pulled on the boxers and slid into bed with Barbara. He took up his previous position at her back. She twisted in his arms to give him a welcome-back kiss, which he returned with interest. She sighed happily, flipped back over, and pulled his arms around her waist. Beetlejuice, clad now in boxers, stood awkwardly a few feet away.

“Get over here,” Barbara said, holding out her hand. He grinned, his momentary shyness evaporating, and literally leaped into bed. 

“Oof,” Barbara gasped. “Hey, turn and face me, Beej.”

She only felt a little bad about manhandling Beetlejuice to where she wanted him—his chest pressed up against her front, one of her knees between his legs, her face in the crook of his neck. He stayed stiff and uncertain at first, but as Barbara relaxed, so did he.

“Perfect,” she said. Adam’s hand snaked a little further up and latched around Beetlejuice’s wrist. She and Adam let out identical, simultaneous sighs as they settled in.

“You _are_ soft,” Barbara mumbled. “Just like we thought.”

“You guys talk about me?” Beetlejuice asked. Adam huffed a laugh. 

“You don’t know the half of it. We have four conversation topics now: Lydia, baby, Beetlejuice, and the intersections thereof.”

“Huh,” Beetlejuice said, but nothing else. Barbara, at least, was content to let the silence ride. Being pregnant and needy was exhausting, and this, finally, was blessed relief. Even if they didn’t get up to anything else, this was just what she needed. Besides, maybe it was a good idea not to move too fast with Beetlejuice—excusing the fact that he was already more than half-naked and wrapped around her in their bed.

Sleepily, she pressed a kiss to his collarbone and felt the hitched breath stutter in his chest. 

“Hey, Beej, can you sleep? _Do_ you sleep?”

“Not if you keep doing stuff like that,” he mumbled. "But, yeah, I sleep if I feel like it. I don’t really need to but, you know.” 

She felt him shrug. 

“Think you could manage it now?” she asked. He fidgeted. 

“If you can’t, that’s okay,” Barbara said. She snuggled up closer. “Just stay here and cuddle as long as you’re comfortable. If Adam and I fall asleep and you get bored, you can leave.”

He didn’t say anything after that, and Barbara, finally comforted by the closeness of other bodies, felt herself drifting off. Adam, bless him, was already snoring.

—

Barbara wasn’t sure how long she had been sleeping when she was stirred awake by movement against her. The moon cut a line across the bed, enough to illuminate Beetlejuice, his back to her, headed for the door. She got out of bed and followed him, thankful, not for the first time, that Adam was a heavy sleeper. She followed him up to the roof. If he noticed, he didn’t let on. He also didn’t stop her from sitting beside him. 

“I’ve never been on the roof,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we could.”

Beetlejuice grunted. Barbara closed her eyes, feeling the night breeze on her face. “It’s nice to be outside again, though. I can see why you spend time up here.”

Beetlejuice didn’t respond.

“When the baby comes, we’ll have to bring them up here. Maybe you can teach them how to handle powers, if they have any. Adam and I can let you handle the weird stuff and we can handle the normal baby stuff,” she said with a laugh.

Beetlejuice’s fingers tightened on the edge of the roof. Out of the corner of her eye, Barbara watched him, not sure what to do with the strange way he was acting. Adam had always been an open book—or at least a book she knew how to read—but Beetlejuice was….well, he was Beetlejuice.

“Hey, is there something bothering you?” she asked. He fiddled with his hands for a moment, refusing eye contact. She settled in, looking up at the sky instead of at him while he put together whatever it was he wanted to say. Eventually, he said, “I don’t know how much of this is permanent.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m allowed to help take care of the baby _if_ you can’t handle the weird stuff yourself. I can hang out with Lydia _if_ I behave myself. I can kiss you and Adam, but only _if_ I clean up first. I feel like I’m on a tightrope. One wrong move and I fall from your good graces forever.”

“Oh, Beetlejuice,” she sighed, leaning her head against his arm. He sat still and refused to look at her.

“If things feel conditional to you right now, it’s because they _are._ You’re a great guy and we do want to have you in our lives, but you did try to kill us all. That kind of thing makes trust harder.”

“Lydia killed me!” Beetlejuice shouted. “And I forgave her! Right away!”

“And I’m glad you trust Lydia that much,” Barbara replied evenly. She rubbed her forehead, unsure as to what she wanted to convey.

“Trust takes time to build up. And you’ve been doing so well—every time we see you, we fall in love a little bit more. But there’s still a ways to go. But in the meantime, there are things we can all do to make the process a little smoother. Communication, for one. Just like we’re doing now. When something’s bothering you, tell us and we’ll figure it out. Together.”

Beetlejuice didn’t say anything, but a little of the tension in his shoulders dissipated. She continued, “You reminded me of all the conditions we put on you. Do you have any to put on us? Anything you want us to do, or not do?”

Hesitantly, Beetlejuice said, “I hate it when I get banished without warning. It’s like, ‘hey Beetlejuice! You’re cool to be around until you piss us off, and then—bam—well, at least you’re not our problem anymore!’ The trust thing you were talking about, it makes that harder.”

Barbara put a hand over Beetlejuice’s. “Okay,” she said. “No more banishing. I promise.”

He gave her a small smile and turned his hand up, palm to palm with her. Loosely, their fingers tangled together.

“And,” Barbara added, “when we aren’t in bed or doing in-bed activities, you don’t have to be clean for us.”

“Thank fuck,” Beetlejuice muttered, and then, suddenly, he was back to himself—tattered suit, messy hair, dirt under his fingernails and at the corners of his mouth.

“What the hell?” Barbara exclaimed.

“Cool party trick, right? I can, like, switch between states of being, as long as I know exactly what I’m going for. See?”

He snapped his fingers and he was bare-chested, wearing Adam’s boxers, fresh enough from the shower to still be damp. He snapped again and he was in his wedding tux, the red ruffled one, with his hair perfectly combed. Snap: the yellow suit jacket of death. Snap: regular old Beetlejuice. 

“That’s….pretty cool, actually,” Barbara admitted. 

Beetlejuice grinned and said, “And this way we don’t have to waste any time if we ever get in the mood. Clean and almost naked with—literally—a snap of my fingers.”

“Hmm, a compelling point,” Barbara said. This time when she leaned against Beetlejuice, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around her. She snuggled up against his side. She thought about the fact that he was willing to be clean for them, that he let her talk through his insecurities with him, and how life might be if things kept going the way they were. She realized, with a start, that she was happy that she and Adam had fallen through that floor that day. Life had never been so good as it was when she was dead. She buried her face deeper into Beetlejuice’s side, not even caring about the smell.

“Are you crying?” Beetlejuice asked, sounding horrified and a little panicked.

Defensively, she said, “It’s a baby thing! I can’t help it!”

“Can I make it a condition that you never cry?”

“No, Beetlejuice, crying happens whether I want it to or not.”

“Well, I don’t like it,” he snapped. She looked up, ready to snap back, but when she locked eyes with Beetlejuice, she saw his were red and watery.

“Are _you_ crying?” she asked incredulously.

“If I am, it’s your fault!”

Barbara laughed and wiped her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, for crying, making him cry, and then laughing about it. She reached up and brushed away wetness at the corner of Beetlejuice’s eye. 

“We’re going to be okay,” she said. “All of us. It’s just gonna take some time.”

“I know, Babs.”

“Hey,” she said softly, and when he looked at her, she kissed him. It took a few seconds for him to reciprocate, and she realized belatedly it was because he had switched his appearance to freshly-washed. That little bit of consideration made her fall for him a tiny bit more. That pang longing she’d been feeling on and off all day hit her again, harder than ever. She kissed him again and pushed closer until she was practically in his lap.

“Hey,” she said again.

“What?” he mumbled, nosing down her cheek to kiss her neck. 

“We should go back inside and wake Adam up.”

He stood immediately, scooping her up in his arms. She yelped in surprise, wrapped her legs around his waist, and locked her arms around his neck to keep herself in place. Lord, he was strong—stronger than Adam by a lot. They could have fun with that, she thought. 

“Best idea you’ve had all day,” he said. “Such a good idea, in fact, I’ll forgive you for making me shower.”

“Oh, good. I was hoping you would.”

Together, they went inside to wake up Adam and make some trouble. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sidras-tak on tumblr!


End file.
